Texas Tech earns $1.6 million Environmental Protection Agency grant

Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University’s Department of Civil, Environmental, & Construction Engineering has earned a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate sources and mitigation of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) sources in farming operations.

This project is part of over $15 million in total grant funding the EPA hopes will enable 10 institutions to discover methods of reducing PFAS in food, farmland and farming communities. PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals most people in the U.S. have been exposed to through soil, air, water and food. PFAS have been widely used in industry and consumer products (such as food packaging and stain-repellent coatings) since the 1940s and are resistant to environmental and metabolic degradation. This can lead to accumulation in the environment and organisms including humans.

In the case of humans, some PFAS are associated with health impacts such as increased risks of cancers. These environmental and human health risks are why Jennifer Guelfo, associate professor of environmental engineering in the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering, aims to develop strategies that will prevent PFAS impacts from happening at agricultural facilities and mitigate effects that already have occurred.

“PFAS are a growing challenge for those who own and operate agricultural facilities,” Guelfo explained. “PFAS impacts have caused issues, including sick livestock, PFAS-impacted products (meat, dairy and produce) and loss of property value. Farmers have experienced health impacts, and if impacted products are inadvertently sold to the public, there is also a broader public health risk.”

There are numerous ways PFAS are introduced to agricultural operations, including contaminated fertilizer, groundwater wells used for irrigation and drinking water, and impacted feed. Given the persistence and health hazard of PFAS, it is important to understand how these chemicals accumulate in agricultural plants and animals, potentially contaminating the food supply.

Guelfo is the principal investigator of Texas Tech’s community-engaged project titled “Evaluating and Mitigating Bioaccumulation of PFAS in Plant, Mammalian, and Aquaculture Systems.” She is joined by Todd Anderson, professor of environmental chemistry; Jordan Crago, associate professor of aquatic toxicology; Evan Gray, assistant professor of environmental engineering; W. Andrew Jackson, department chair of environmental engineering; and Shane Walker, director of the Water and the Environment Research (WATER) Center.

During the next four years, these researchers will:

• Conduct a detailed survey and characterization of the impacts of manure and biosolid pre-application treatment or processing through lab and modeling studies
• Use plant cultivation studies to measure PFAS partitioning and bioavailability as a function of soil type and biosolid amendment
• Observe fish cultivation to measure PFAS uptake, partitioning, and elimination due to exposure to water and dietary sources among other potential PFAS sources
• Analyze data from lab studies to form PFAS management strategies in agricultural settings

“Once a facility is impacted there are few options to help resume normal operation, which has led to extreme scenarios such as euthanizing entire herds of livestock, loss of property, and loss of livelihood,” Guelfo said. “As an urban area in the middle of a very agricultural region, this project is a unique opportunity for Texas Tech to pursue research that will be beneficial at local, national and international levels.

“We are excited to work with local agricultural stakeholders who will review our strategies to help ensure they are realistic for implementation in real-world facilities.”

More details about Texas Tech’s contribution to this EPA initiative can be found here.

 

Kids in families with too much screen time struggle with language skills

Scientists find that children whose families use screens a lot have weaker vocabulary skills — and videogames have the biggest negative effect

Frontiers

Screens have become ubiquitous in our daily lives — which means they’ve also become part of children’s lives too. So what effect does this have on children’s developing brains, especially critical language skills? To understand this, scientists in Estonia surveyed the parents of more than 400 children about their screen use, their children’s screen use, and their children’s language skills. They found that parents who use screens a lot also have children who use screens a lot, and that children’s higher screen time is associated with poorer language skills. 

“Our study reveals that children’s screen use patterns are similar to those of their parents,” said Dr Tiia Tulviste of the University of Tartu, lead author of the study in Frontiers in Developmental Psychology. “Child language researchers emphasize the importance of everyday interactions with adults in early language development, where children are actively involved. At the same time, we know that all family members tend to their screen devices. Because time is finite, we need to find out how this fierce competition between face-to-face interaction and screen time affects child language development.” 

Talking or technology 

In many cultures, most of children’s language development occurs because they talk to adults: having conversations exposes them to more vocabulary and grammatical structures. The presence of screens can disrupt this, especially if an adult is being interrupted by texts or notifications. But understanding how this affects children’s development requires accounting for the different types of screen children may be using and what they’re using them for, as well as the screens that adults around them use.  

Tulviste and co-investigator Dr Jaan Tulviste surveyed a representative sample of Estonian families, including 421 children aged between two and a half and four years old. The survey asked parents to estimate how long each member of the family would spend using different screen devices for different purposes on a typical weekend day. It also asked how much of this time would be spent using a screen as a family, for example watching a film together. Finally, parents were asked to fill out a questionnaire evaluating their children’s language ability.  

The researchers sorted both children and adults into three screen use groups — high, low, and moderate. They then analyzed this data to see if there was a link between parental screen use and children’s screen use. They found that parents and children generally belonged to the same groups: parents who used screens a lot had children who also used screens a lot. Controlling for age, they looked at the language development of these children, and found that children who used screens less scored higher for both grammar and vocabulary. No form of screen use had a positive effect on children’s language skills.  

“While reading ebooks and playing some educational games may offer language learning opportunities, especially for older children, research shows that during the first years of life, the most influential factor is everyday dyadic face-to-face parent-child verbal interaction,” said Tulviste.  

Fun and games? 

Using screens for videogames had a notable negative effect on children’s language skills, regardless of whether parents or children were gaming. Tulviste explained cultural factors could be involved in this result: “For Estonian children, few developmentally appropriate computer games exist for this age group. Games in a foreign language with limited interactivity or visual-only content likely do not provide rich opportunities for learning oral language and communication skills.” 

The authors pointed out that more research will need to be done to understand how the pandemic has affected these patterns: they originally collected their data in 2019. It would also be important to learn how these whole-family profiles change over time, using longitudinal studies that follow families as children grow up.  

“The study has a cross-sectional design — we studied each participant only once and did not follow their developmental trajectory over a longer time period,” cautioned Tulviste. “Also, the data were collected before the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be interesting to look at future research findings addressing language development and the impact of screen use during the pandemic.” 

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Journal

Frontiers in Developmental Psychology

DOI

10.3389/fdpys.2024.1404235 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Weekend screen use of parents and children associates with child language skills

 SPACE/COSMOLOGY

Combination and summary of ATLAS dark matter searches in 2HDM+a

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Science China Press

In the 1930s, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky observed that the velocities of galaxies in the Coma Cluster were too high to be maintained solely by the gravitational pull of luminous matter. He proposed the existence of some non-luminous matter within the galaxy cluster, which he called dark matter. This discovery marked the beginning of humanity's understanding and study of dark matter.

Today, the most precise measurements of dark matter in the universe come from observations of the cosmic microwave background. The latest results from the Planck satellite indicate that about 5% of the mass in our universe comes from visible matter (mainly baryonic matter), approximately 27% comes from dark matter, and the rest from dark energy.

Despite extensive astronomical observations confirming the existence of dark matter, we have limited knowledge about the properties of dark matter particles. From a microscopic perspective, the Standard Model of particle physics, established in the mid-20th century, has been hugely successful and confirmed by numerous experiments. However, the Standard Model cannot explain the existence of dark matter in the universe, indicating the need for new physics beyond the Standard Model to account for dark matter candidate particles, and the urgent need to find experimental evidence of these candidates.

Consequently, dark matter research is not only a hot topic in astronomy but also at the forefront of particle physics research. Searching for dark matter particles in colliders is one of the three major experimental approaches to detect the interaction between dark matter and regular matter, complementing other types of dark matter detection experiments such as underground direct detection experiments and space-based indirect detection experiments.

Recently, the ATLAS collaboration searched for dark matter using the 139 fb-1 of proton-proton collision data accumulated during LHC's Run 2, within the 2HDM+a dark matter theoretical framework. The search utilized a variety of dark matter production processes and experimental signatures, including some not considered in traditional dark matter models. To further enhance the sensitivity of the dark matter search, this work statistically combined the three most sensitive experimental signatures: the process involving a Z boson decaying into leptons with large missing transverse momentum, the process involving a Higgs boson decaying into bottom quarks with large missing transverse momentum, and the process involving a charged Higgs boson with top and bottom quark final states.

This is the first time ATLAS has conducted a combined statistical analysis of final states including dark matter particles and intermediate states decaying directly into Standard Model particles. This innovation has significantly enhanced the constraint on the model parameter space and the sensitivity to new physics.

"This work is one of the largest projects in the search for new physics at the LHC, involving nearly 20 different analysis channels. The complementary nature of different analysis channels to constrain the parameter space of new physics highlights the unique advantages of collider experiments," said Zirui Wang, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan.

This work has provided strong experimental constraints on multiple new benchmark parameter models within the 2HDM+a theoretical framework, including some parameter spaces never explored by previous experiments. This represents the most comprehensive experimental result from the ATLAS collaboration for the 2HDM+a dark matter model.

Lailin Xu, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China stated, "2HDM+a is one of the mainstream new physics theoretical frameworks for dark matter in the world today. It has significant advantages in predicting dark matter phenomena and compatibility with current experimental constraints, predicting a rich variety of dark matter production processes in LHC experiments. This work systematically carried out multi-process searches and combined statistical analysis based on the 2HDM+a model framework, providing results that exclude a large portion of the possible parameter space for dark matter, offering important guidance for future dark matter searches."

Vu Ngoc Khanh, a postdoctoral researcher at Tsung-Dao Lee institute, stated: “Although we have not yet found dark matter particles at the LHC, compared to before the LHC’s operation, we have put stringent constraints on the parameter space where dark matter might exist, including the mass of the dark matter particles and their interaction strengths with other particles, further narrowing the search scope.” Tsung Dao Lee Fellow Li Shu, added: “So far, the data collected by the LHC only accounts for about 7% of the total data the experiment will record. The data that the LHC will generate over the next 20 years presents a tremendous opportunity to discover dark matter. Our past experiences have shown us that dark matter might be different from what we initially thought, which motivates us to use more innovative experimental methods and techniques in our search.”

ATLAS is one of the four large experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The ATLAS experiment is a multipurpose particle detector with a forward–backward symmetric cylindrical geometry and nearly 4π coverage in solid angle. It consists of an inner tracking detector surrounded by a thin superconducting solenoid, high-granularity sampling electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters, and a muon spectrometer with three superconducting air-core toroidal magnets. The ATLAS Collaboration consists of more than 5900 members from 253 institutes in 42 countries on 6 continents, including physicists, engineers, students, and technical staff.

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Journal

Science Bulletin

DOI

10.1016/j.scib.2024.06.003 

 

Breakthrough study unveils key steps for turning CO2 into valuable chemicals

Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society

 

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Turning CO2 into Valuable Chemicals

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Credit: © FHI

CO2 Reduction: A Pathway to Valuable Chemicals

The electrochemical reduction of CO2 (CO2RR) is a promising technology that uses renewable electricity to convert CO2 into high-value chemicals, effectively closing the carbon cycle. Ethylene and ethanol, the focus of this study, are crucial for producing environmentally-friendly plastics and fuels, respectively. However, the exact mechanisms and intermediate steps involved in this conversion have remained elusive until now. The former mechanistic understanding is crucial in order to rationally design the active sites, which we show here are not only present in the synthesized pre-catalyst, but can also be formed and evolve in the course of the reaction through the interaction with reactants and reaction intermediates.

Key Findings: Spectroscopic Insights and Theoretical Support

The research team led by group leader Dr. Arno Bergmann, Prof. Dr. Beatriz Roldán Cuenya and Prof. Dr. Núria López employed in-situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and density functional theory (DFT) to investigate the molecular species on copper (Cu) electrocatalysts and thereby, gain insights into the reaction mechanism. Their findings reveal that the formation of ethylene occurs when specific intermediates, known as *OC-CO(H) dimers, form on undercoordinated Cu sites. Conversely, the production of ethanol requires highly compressed and distorted coordination environment of the Cu sites, with the key intermediate *OCHCH2.

Understanding the Role of Surface Morphology

One of the critical discoveries is the role of surface morphology in the reaction process. The team found that the undercoordinated Cu sites strengthen the binding of CO, a crucial step in the reduction process. These Cu sites, characterized by atomic-level irregularities, likely form under reaction conditions and make the catalytic surface more effective, leading to better performance in producing ethylene and ethanol.

Implications for the Chemical Industry

These findings have significant implications for the chemical industry, particularly in the production of plastics and fuels. By understanding the specific conditions and intermediates required for the selective production of ethylene and ethanol, researchers can design more efficient and sustainable catalysts. This could lead to more effective ways to utilize CO2, reducing the carbon footprint of chemical manufacturing processes.

Collaborative Effort

The study was a collaborative effort, with theoretical support from a research group in Spain. This partnership allowed for a comprehensive investigation, combining experimental and theoretical approaches to provide a detailed understanding of the CO2 reduction process.

Conclusion

The research conducted by the Interface Science Department at the Fritz Haber Institute and Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia represents a significant step forward in the field of CO2 reduction. By unveiling the key intermediates and active sites involved in the production of ethylene and ethanol, this study provides a foundation for developing more efficient and sustainable catalytic processes. The findings not only advance scientific knowledge but also offer practical solutions for reducing CO2 emissions and promoting sustainable chemical production.

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Journal

Nature Energy

DOI

10.1038/s41560-024-01633-4 

Article Title

Key intermediates and Cu active sites for CO2 electroreduction to ethylene and ethanol

 

Study finds doctors and patients interested in environmental impact of health care decisions

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

BOSTON – Concerns about the environmental impact of healthcare decisions rarely enter into conversations between patients and physicians. However, evidence from a new study led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, shows there's broad interest in changing that.

In a series of focus groups conducted in different areas of the United States, doctors and patients expressed openness to considering environmental factors when discussing treatment options. The findings, presented in a paper published online today by Nature Climate Change, suggest that educating physicians about the environmental costs of treatment – and how those costs may be reduced while continuing to deliver excellent care – can be a first step toward that goal.

"Studies have shown that the U.S. healthcare industry is responsible for 8.5% of national greenhouse gases emissions and about 25% of healthcare emissions worldwide," said Andrew Hantel, MD, a faculty member in the Divisions of Leukemia and Population Sciences at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who led the study with Dana-Farber colleague Gregory Abel, MD, MPH. "The downstream health consequences of these emissions are responsible for the same level of loss of life as pancreatic cancer or colon cancer every year.

"If healthcare emissions are contributing to climate change that is resulting in this level of harm, we wanted to assess if and how physicians view their responsibility to address this issue," he continues. "We also asked patients how willing they would be to make changes in their care that might reduce emissions and limit harm to others."

Researchers conducted seven focus groups – three made up of physicians, four of patients – involving 46 people in all. Patients, on the whole, were interested in talking about these issues and learning about treatment alternatives that are equally effective but less damaging to the environment.

"Asthma or COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], for example, can be managed in part using powdered or aerosolized inhalers," Hantel relates. "For many patients they're equally effective medications, but powdered inhalers have significant environmental benefits."

Roughly two-thirds of the focus group participants identified as members of racial and ethnic minority groups, who often experience the harshest effects of climate change despite being less responsible for those effects than other groups. Many of them were interested in making environmentally conscious health decisions but wanted to ensure that the main contributors to climate change were also held accountable, researchers found. Some participants expressed a concern that physicians’ paternalism might be a deterrent to having climate-informed discussions with patients.

Many of the physicians in the focus groups incorrectly assumed that patients were not interested in discussing the environmental consequences of health choices, researchers found. Even if patients were interested, physicians said their medical school education hadn't prepared them to address the subject adequately.

At the same time, physicians felt their ability to act in a climate-informed fashion was limited by a healthcare culture oriented toward consumption of natural resources. "There was a sense of systemic headwinds against the kind of changes that can be beneficial for patients as well as the environment," Hantel observes.

Physicians and patients generally agreed that patients' immediate health should be prioritized over environmental concerns. In situations where there's co-benefit, however, both groups were open to actions that reduce environmental impact.

"Our findings point to the need to better educate physicians and health professionals about changes they can make, as well as those they can advocate for within their institutions, which benefit patients but also are less toxic to the environment," Hantel comments. "The goal isn't to shift the burden of climate-informed healthcare decisions onto patients, but to engage with them on these issues and make sure they're a normal part of conversations with their doctors."

The study was supported by the Greenwall Foundation.

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Journal

Nature Climate Change

 

Uncertain if lifestyle advice actually works

University of Gothenburg

 

image: 

Minna Johansson, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg.

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Credit: Photo by Fredrik Johansson

Healthcare professionals are increasingly giving advice to patients on how to improve their health, but there is often a lack of scientific evidence if this advice is actually beneficial. This is according to a study from the University of Gothenburg, which also guides towards more effective recommendations.
The researchers do not criticize the content of the advice - it is good if people lose weight, stop smoking, eat a better diet or exercise more. However, there is no evidence that patients actually change their lifestyle after receiving this advice from healthcare professionals.
“There is often a lack of research showing that counseling patients is effective. It is likely that the advice rarely actually helps people,” says Minna Johansson, Associate Professor at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and General Practitioner at Herrestad's Healthcare Center in Uddevalla, who is the study's lead author.
Few pieces of advice are well-founded
The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was conducted by an international team of researchers. They have previously analyzed medical recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK. This organization is behind 379 recommendations of advice and interventions that healthcare professionals should give to patients, with the aim of changing their lifestyle.
In only 3% of cases there were scientific studies showing that the advice has positive effects in practice. A further 13% of this advice had some evidence, but with low certainty. The researchers also reviewed additional guidelines from other influential institutions around the world and found that these often overestimate the positive impact of the advice and rarely take disadvantages into account.
“Trying to improve public health by giving lifestyle advice to one person at a time is both expensive and ineffective. Resources would probably be better spent on community-based interventions that make it easier for all of us to live healthy lives,” says Minna Johansson, who also believes the advice could increase stigmatization for people with e.g., obesity.
Showing the way forward
Today's healthcare professionals would not be able to give all the advice recommended while maintaining other care. The researchers' calculations show that in the UK, for example, five times as many nurses would need to be hired, compared to current levels, to cope with the task.
The study also presents a new guideline to help policy makers and guideline authors consider the pros and cons of the intervention in a structured way before deciding whether or not to recommend it.
Victor Montori, Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in the United States is a co-author of the study:
“The guideline consists of a number of key questions, which show how to adequately evaluate the likelihood that the lifestyle intervention will lead to positive effects or not,” says Victor Montori.

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Journal

Annals of Internal Medicine

DOI

10.7326/ANNALS-24-00283 

Method of Research

Case study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Guidelines Recommending That Clinicians Advise Patients on Lifestyle Changes: A Popular but Questionable Approach to Improve Public Health

 

$75,000 prize inspired by 18th century Scots economist attracts global entries

Heriot-Watt University

 

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Panmure House in Edinburgh, the former home of 18th century Scots economist and philosopher Adam Smith.

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Credit: Panmure House

A Scottish $75,000 prize for “radical innovation” has shortlisted four academics from around the world.

Named after Panmure House, the former Edinburgh home of 18th century Scots economist and philosopher Adam Smith, the Panmure House Prize rewards groundbreaking research that contributes to advancing long-term thinking and innovation.

After a record number of entries for the 2024 prize, its fourth year, the judges have drawn up a shortlist of four submissions from the United States, Spain and Israel.

“This year has been particularly exciting because we've seen a notable increase in applications,” said Professor Adam Dixon, Adam Smith Chair in Sustainable Capitalism at Panmure House. “The reason the Panmure House Prize is so special is that it looks at real interdisciplinary thinking. It's about crossing the borders, not sticking exclusively to one discipline, like economics. Thinking across intellectual domains and schools of thought was a hallmark of Adam Smith’s approach. And through our prize, we’re looking for research that mirrors this approach and that could deliver real benefit to governments, businesses, academic institutions and economies.”

The four shortlisted academics for the Panmure House Prize, which is one of the largest academic prizes offered in the UK, are Professor Kirk Doran, Professor Michela Giorcelli, Dr Moran Lazar and Dr Ivanka Visnjic.

Kirk Doran is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in the United States.

His research shows that deep collaboration between rival innovators is the only way to grow economies.

“It is not enough to better educate our workforce or even produce more entrepreneurs, scientists, and inventors,” he said. “Such efforts could not possibly produce long run economic growth unless these individuals enter periods of deep collaboration with each other in the joint production of knowledge.”

Professor Doran said his research exemplifies the interdisciplinary approach Adam Smith used to understand growth.

“I feel honoured and privileged to be shortlisted for the Panmure House Prize,” he said. “Adam Smith has been an inspiration to me since the first time I began studying social structures and the economy as an undergraduate.”

Michela Giorcelli is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Her research compares how ‘hard’ technologies – like new machinery and equipment – and ‘soft’ technologies – management practices, systems and people – impact innovation and productivity in a company.

World War II is an example she explores in published research, where an increasing number of war-related orders led to more investment in research and development, and the training of huge numbers of new workers to replace those who had gone to war.

“World War II spurred the adoption of managerial practices by US companies, which, in turn, improved their productivity and innovation for at least a decade,” Professor Giorcelli said. “Management also had positive spillovers on related firms and other countries, especially Europe, where such practices were exported in the war aftermath. By contrast, the diffusion of new machinery and equipment had a more limited and short-lived impact on firm outcomes.”

Professor Giorcelli said she felt “incredibly honoured” to be shortlisted for the Panmure House Prize.

Dr Moran Lazar is a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at the Coller School of Management in Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Her research explores on a ‘micro’ level how new ideas and entrepreneurial teams are created and what makes them successful. Dr Lazar’s research involves collaborating with companies, innovation hubs and entrepreneurial programs to gather insights from real-world settings.

“I focus on key questions related to how, when, and why creative ideas are generated, as well as how, when, and why creators, entrepreneurs, employees, and managers implement them successfully,” she explained. “The application of my research lies in its potential to directly impact real-world entrepreneurial endeavours and address pressing challenges in early-stage innovation processes.”

Dr Lazar added: “It is incredibly validating to have my research recognized by such a prestigious award, especially one that embodies interdisciplinary spirit.”

Dr Ivanka Visnjic is a Professor of Innovation at Esade Business School in Barcelona, Spain, where she leads the Operations, Innovation, and Data Sciences Department.

Her research focuses on helping large industrial companies successfully transition to more sustainable and innovative business models.

“As the world faces mounting environmental challenges, it's imperative that industry plays a leading role in developing sustainable solutions,” she said. “For instance, my collaboration with Enel, an Italian energy firm, demonstrated how green tech, digital tools and innovative practices can drive sustainability in the energy sector.”

Dr Visnjic’s research includes studying how crises can drive green inventions and how effective startups and corporations are in scaling sustainable innovations. She also explores business model changes that help corporations to pursue sustainability.

“Being shortlisted for the Panmure House Prize is an immense honour and a deeply gratifying recognition of my work in innovation and business model transformation,” Dr Visnjic said.

Entrants to the Panmure House Prize undergo a rigorous selection process, overseen by a distinguished panel of judges comprising leading scholars and practitioners in the field of economics, business and policy.

Each is evaluated based on their originality, scholarly rigour, potential impact, and relevance to contemporary economic and societal discourse.

Administered in partnership with FCLTGlobal, a non-profit organisation that promotes long-term investing, and supported by investment manager Baillie Gifford, the Panmure House Prize was first opened in 2021.

Prize winners use the award to conduct research from their home institution, working to publicise and publish their findings widely within peer-reviewed journals, national and international press, as well as curating first-look updates and interactive sessions on the Panmure House website.

This year’s Prize Winner will be announced in Autumn of 2024.

For more information about the Panmure House Prize, including submission guidelines and key dates, please visit the website.

About Panmure House

Panmure House was originally built in 1691 and was the home of Scottish Enlightenment economist Adam Smith from 1778 to his death in 1790. It is now part of Edinburgh Business School, the business school of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Business School and Heriot-Watt University rescued Panmure House from dereliction in 2008 and invested £5.6 million over 10 years restoring it.

Panmure House now hosts a year-round programme of events, debates, research projects and education focused on urgent economic, political and philosophical questions in the 21st century.

 

 

Pensoft launches new journal: Individual-based Ecology

Pensoft Publishers

 

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A banner of IBE presented at the German Ecological Society’s 53rd annual conference

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Credit: Iva Boyadzhieva

Scholarly publisher and technology provider Pensoft has launched Individual-based Ecology (IBE), a new peer-reviewed, diamond open-access journal established to promote an individual-based perspective in ecology.

IBE aims to bridge the gap between individual-level responses and broader ecological patterns. In the face of global challenges, the journal is looking to contribute to both a better understanding and new sets of predictions of how ecological systems will respond to anthropogenic change. It aims to support the development of appropriate mitigation and restoration measures by focusing on the entities that actually and directly respond to change, i.e. individual organisms.

The journal embraces basic and applied, theoretical and empirical research in terrestrial and aquatic ecology. It welcomes contributions that incorporate data or novel insights about individual organisms and their interactions that are relevant to explaining system-level dynamics. IBE will publish a wide range of articles, including empirical, experimental, and modeling studies, as well as reviews, perspectives, and methodological papers.

As a diamond open-access journal, IBE is currently free to publish and free to read, ensuring that all published research is freely accessible to the global community.

The journal will utilise Pensoft’s innovative ARPHA platform, known for its robust support of academic publishing and efficient dissemination of research. Thanks to its fast-track publishing solution, the new journal offers a seamless, end-to-end publishing experience, encompassing all stages between manuscript submission and article publication, indexation, dissemination and permanent archiving. The publishing services provided by ARPHA also include a variety of human-provided services and integrations with third-party providers, intended to maximise the reach and usability of scholarly knowledge published in IBE.

IBE will be led by four editors-in-chief: Prof. Dr. Volker Grimm and Prof. Dr. Karin Frank of Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research – UFZ, Prof. Dr. Mark E. Hauber of The City University of New York, and Prof. Dr. Florian Jeltsch of the University of Potsdam.

„We are excited to launch Individual-based Ecology, a new, promising journal that will contribute to a better understanding of ecological systems and how we interact with them,” said Prof Lyubomir Penev, founder and CEO of ARPHA and Pensoft.

“The time has come to establish individual-based ecology as an important complement to all other branches of ecology, both because we need it to fully understand and predict the response of ecological systems to change, and because empirical and modelling approaches have reached a level where the collection and use of individual-based data has become possible," says Prof Volker Grimm, one of the editors-in-chief.

“It is exciting to be able to launch a journal that embraces ecological principles at the level of individuals across any and all lineages of life on our planet", notes Prof. Mark E. Hauber, also an editor-in-chief. 

“This new journal will promote nothing less than a paradigm shift in ecological thinking from averaging approaches to a science focused on the fundamental agents of change, i.e. individual organisms. Systematically recognising the importance of individual variation in ecological systems will transform our fundamental understanding of how biodiversity and its components emerge from individual responses and interactions, and how the emerging levels of organisation will respond to changing environments,” said Prof Florian Jeltsch from the editorial team.  

IBE joins a number of open-access ecology journals published by Pensoft.

For more information on the journal’s focus and scope and guidelines to authors, visit IBE’s website.

 

About Pensoft:

Pensoft is an independent, open-access publisher and technology provider, best known for its biodiversity journals, including ZooKeys, Biodiversity Data Journal, PhytoKeys, MycoKeys, One Ecosystem, Metabarcoding and Metagenomics, and many others. 

Over the past 30 years, Pensoft has built a reputation for its innovations in the field, after launching ZooKeys, the very first digital-first scientific journal in zoology and the first to introduce semantic enrichments and hyperlinks within a biodiversity article. 

To date, the company has continuously been working on various tools and workflows designed to facilitate biodiversity data findability, accessibility, discoverability and interoperability. The latest large projects led by Pensoft include the OpenBiodiv knowledge graph and the Horizon 2020 project BiCIKL.

 

About ARPHA:

ARPHA is the first end-to-end, narrative- and data-integrated publishing solution that supports the full life cycle of a manuscript, from authoring to reviewing, publishing and dissemination. ARPHA provides accomplished and streamlined production workflows that can be customized according to the journal’s needs. The platform enables a variety of publishing models through a number of options for branding, production and revenue models to choose from.